Rail chair with combined nut lock and electric bond



July 14, 1925.

' 1,546,168 A. E. CROUCH RAIL CHAIR WITH GOMBINED NUT LOCK AND ELECTRIC BOND Filed June 8. 1923 ]21 ran for A E Crauc'fi Patented July 14, 1925.

ALvAn cnoccn, or inni-iinn r'oms, manna;

RAIL CHAIR, WITH coivinrnnnnur LOG-KZAND ELECT-RIG-BOND:

Application filed June 8,

Te /1H 207mm it may concern:

Be it known that .ALVA E. emcee; a citizen of the -United States, residing at Indianapolis, in the county of Marion and State of Indiana, has invented new and;

useful Improvements in Rail Chairs with CombinedNut Locks and Electric Bonds, of which the following is a specification.

It is the purpose of the invention to provide a construction involving improvements over the patent to A lva E, Crouch, dated January 18,1921, No. 1,23%,248.

The improvements in question consist of a onepiece rail chair to receive the meeting ends of pair of railscausing a joint to be formed between the two rails, in conjunction' with a combined nut lock and electric bond between the 'meeting ends of the rails. I

Another purpose is the provision of means on the base portions of the opposite sides of the chair for retainingthe 'combined nut lock and electric bond in such position as to prevent outward displacement of the same, in conjunction with means at diagonally opposite ends of the chair to prevent longitudinal -movement of the nut lock and bond.

It is to beunderstood that the j-particu lars herein given are in no way limitative and that, while scope :of the invention, anydesired modifications of detail and desired proportions may be made in the apparatusaccording to the circumstances. V

The invention comprises further' features and combinations of parts'to be hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings and claimed. i

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the meeting ends of a pair of rails, showing the chair receiving and connecting said ends and disclosing the combined nut lock and electric bond in position.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view on line 2 2 of Figure 1, thereby showing both nut locks and electric bonds.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view on line 3-8 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates the rail chair in its entirety adapted for the reception of the meeting ends 2 and 3 of a pair of rails. The chair comprises a base 4 and opposed sides 5. The sides conyerge toward each other for a portion of still keeping within the 19%. serial no. (5 14,247'.

their height in order to conform to the opposite portions of the base of the rail. The converging parts of the sides of the chair overlie the opposite'sides of the base of the rail, acting to hold the rail firm. The remaining portions of the sides of the chair rise perpendicularly and are parallel with the web of the rail. The perpendicular portions engage with the web 'and'act to hold the rails upright and reinforce them to prevent relative movement of the rails.

Bolts 6 of a conventional'forin penetrate the opposite perpendicular portions of the sides of the' 'chai'r'and through the webs H of the meeting ends of the rails and are provided with nuts '7 which act' to prevent excessive longitudinal m vement of the rails; However, the webs of the' rails have their openings through which the bolts'eze tend of elongated form 'in order'to permit of slight movements of the rails, thereby allowing for expansion and contraction due .to the varying'temp'erature of the weather;

Rising froinlthe' upperfaces of the opposite sides'of the base of the chair are i'etaining lugs 8 for' 'the-pur ose'of retain ing combined nut'lock and electric bondingmembersIQ in position. These n'ut lock and electric bonding members each consists of a banpreferablyof metalof high conductivity and which lie securely close to the remote faces of 'theopposite per-pen dicu la'r' portions of the sides of the chair. These bars are disposed immediately under the heads and the nuts of the securing 'bolts.

In fact,- the 'bars engage with certain of the flat faces of the heads and nuts in order to prevent relative displacement between the bolts and the nuts.

The bars 9 are inserted in position by imparting to them movements in the direction of the chair, in fact, in directions parallel with the opposite sides of the chair so that the bars will pass between the retaining lugs 8 and the outer faces of the opposite perpendicular portions of the sides of the chair. The bar on one side is moved in one direction parallel with one side of the chair while the other bar is moved in an opposite direction likewise parallel with the other side of the chair. In this way, the bars are capable of being disposed whereby the retaining lugs may overlie the bars and prevent lateral or side displacement.

While the bars 9 are constructed of metal of high conductivity, they have a certain amount of resiliency, particularly at one end. One end of each bar is more or less resilient and extends slightly laterally and terminates in a lateral lug 10. The bars are disposed so that the lugs 10 are diagonally Opposite, there being correspondingly lo-o cated sockets or openings 11 in the opposite perpendicular portions of the sides of the chair for the reception of the lateral lugs and due to the lug carrying ends of the bars being relatively resilient, the lateral lugs constantly bear upon opposite faces of the websof the rails. In this Way, a constant contact is insured. llurthermorc, as the re taining lugs overlie the bars 9 and frictionally engage therewith, said bars constitute electric bonds between the meeting ends of the rails. ()bviously, since the bars 9 lie against the remote faces of the perpendicular parts of the sides of the chair and since the lateral lugs bear constantly and resiliently against the webs of the rails, thecircuit from onerail is carried through one bar, then through the chair to the other bar, and thence to the other rail.

The chair upon opposite sides of its base has notches 12 to receive the shanks of the usual railroad spikes. The opposite sides of the base of the chair also have openings 14- for the reception of additional spikes for the purpose of retaining thechair to the tie.

The opposed sides 5 of the chair have their adjacent faces grooved longitudinally, as shown at 15, so that the opposite sides 5 of the chair will only contact at their upper portions with the opposite faces of the web of the rail. In other words, the adjacent faces of the opposite sides 5 are dished or concaved longitudinally to allow for expansion and contraction of the connected parts. To insure additional electrical connection between the adjacent rails adjacent contacts 16 and 17 may be interposed between the opposito sides of the chair and the web of the rail. It will be noted. that these contacts may be constructed of any suitable metal, preferably copper. The contacts 17 are malaise diagonally opposite the contacts 16, the former being interposed betweenthe side 5 on one side of the web of the rail while the contacts 16 are interposed between the other side 5 upon the opposite face of the web of the rail. 7 i

The contacts are angular and one arm of one contact of each pair lies flat against the Web of the rail whereas its other shorter arm 18 passes through the web of the rail and engages with the bottom of the dished portion of one of the sides of the chairs The other contact of each pair has its long arm lying closely against the bottom of the groove oi one of the sides of the chair and its shorter arm 19 extends through an opening 20 in one of the sides of the chair.

Having set forth the invention, what is claimed is:

In combination with the meeting ends of a pair of rails, a chair in a form to receive the meeting ends of the rails, and provided with retaining lugs on remote sides of the upper portion of the base of the chair, said lugs being struck'up from the upper wall of the base of the chair and spaced from the remote faces of the upstanding sides of the chair, bolts with nuts thereon passing through the upstanding sides of the chair and through the webs of the rails, the up site ends of said. elements being outwardly curved and resilient and having inturned ends passing through said openings for contact with the webs of the meeting ends of the rails, thereby constituting an electric bond to insure the ronduction of an electric current from one rail to the other.

In testimony whereof he aflixes his signature.

ALVA E. GROUCHi 

